The Night at Santa Giustina
by Liva Wilborg
Summary: Little one-shot for the amazing Requiescat in Pace il Ti Amor. Ezio returns to Venezia after a harrowing mission, his mind heavy and clouded. Not certain where to go, he finds himself at Leonardo's home, hoping against hope for a chance to understand his own dark deeds. Yaoi implied: Story contains references to man on man action. :D


The city was waking up all around him as he walked through the narrow streets and across the bridges. People were making their way to work, carts of goods were being transported to the markets and colourful stalls were opening for the day on almost every little plaza of the city, like flowers unfolding their petals. Church bells greeted the light, calling the faithful of Venezia to morning prayer and the sun climbed slowly over the horizon, preparing for a long day of scorching the tiles of the rooftops to the best of its abilities.

On his arduous, night-clad journey back to the city, Ezio had in his mind gone through his different safe havens. There were those of his allies, of course, but also little, cold nests of his own; rooms strewn across the city, rented in different names, where he kept emergency supplies and where he could rest, and hide, should the need arise. All these places were either too crowded with people who wanted something from him, or too lonely, and when he entered the city he had found his feet taking him towards Leonardo's home even before his conscious mind realised, that this was where he had decided to go. With each step closer the bag he carried felt heavier, now that an end to the night's ugly work was finally in sight.

He always knocked before entering, even though he had repeatedly been told to just come in; that the door was rarely locked and his company never unwanted. He listened for a few moments at the door, waiting for an answer as the bells of nearby San Giacometo finished their loud calls. There were hurried footsteps on the other side of the door.

"I'm not late yet, damn you, why- oh." Leonardo stopped mid-sentence. He was fully dressed and looked a bit hurried, a half eaten apple in his hand and a sketchbook held under his arm. The annoyed amusement in his face turned to curiosity: "Ezio... Come in, are you hurt?" he asked and gave Ezio a quick, scrutinizing look as he stepped aside, holding the door open.

Ezio grinned despite the exhaustion that suddenly caught up with him with the full realisation that the night's work was now behind him. "No. Just... very tired." he said, entering.

"How quaint... Not hurt!" Leonardo commented in mock surprise and laughed, shutting the door before crossing to the table. As he ate the last of the apple he packed a bag with the sketchbook and some drawing-tools, occasionally looking over his shoulder at Ezio who sat down heavily in a chair and let the bag he had carried drop to the floor.

Ezio's body was humming with tiredness and his thoughts seemed to scatter about, unwilling to be caught. He settled for resignedly inspecting his boots. The summer rains of the last few days had muddied the night roads he had travelled and he kicked the soiled boots off to avoid dragging dirt onto the carpets when he would inevitably have to get up from the chair again.

"I have to go but I'll be back around noon. But you know where the bed is." Leonardo slung the bag of drawing supplies over his shoulder: "Will you be here when I return?"

"Unless you want me gone?" Ezio said.

"Nonsense!"

Ezio gave a little laugh: "Thank you, Leonardo."

Leonardo came closer, a concerned frown on his face: "Are you sure you are not hurt? You don't look- Something about you is off, somehow. Different."

"I had a long night, that's all. And I didn't want to go to the guild. There's too much... noise there." Ezio explained. "Really, that's all."

Leonardo nodded; then he smiled: "Well, I'd better be going then. I'll see you later." And he walked towards the door, picking up his hat from a chair on the way: "If you're hungry, by the way, the cheese in the kitchen is really delicious. And there is some soup from yesterday. Help yourself."

"Thanks." Ezio said and got up from the chair with a sigh he couldn't quite suppress.

Leonardo's hand was on the door handle when he stopped and turned to face the assassin: "I'm wondering..." he said slowly, suddenly very serious: "Who did you kill last night- No. Never mind. I'm sorry." He shook his head to dismiss the question before Ezio could answer: "I suppose it's better if I don't know, in case I should hear about it. Feigning surprise isn't something I do very convincingly."

They held each other's gaze across the room for a heartbeat; then Leonardo smiled: "Sleep well. Oh, and... there's blood on your sleeve." he grinned and left, locking the door from outside.

Feeling the sting of Leonardo's last question, Ezio inspected his sleeve. A little blood had soaked into the shirt at the edge of the bracer on the inside of his wrist. The thin line of unwanted dye had dried up brown. He shook his head at Leonardo's perception and, rubbing his eyes tiredly, he took a moment to absorb the homely, chaotic atmosphere of the workshop.

Undoing the straps of the bracers, he finally made his way upstairs to the bedroom. He closed the shutters and stripped down to his pants as quickly as the buckles and fasteners of his armour would allow. Then he crawled under the blankets in the semi-darkness, pushing sketches, books and loose papers strewn around the bed, aside. There was still a little bit of Leonardo's warmth left under the covers. Ezio drew the blanket up under his chin, curled up and promptly fell asleep.

o-o-0-o-o

When Ezio woke up again, he washed and rummaged about in an attempt to shake off a host of murky, half-finished dreams. Leonardo was home again; seated at the table in a splash of sunlight, he was working intently at something, the silver stylus travelling across the paper with precision and ease.

Ezio had spent a while trying to get his attention, only stopping short of yelling, but when Leonardo finally heard him, he had simply raised a hand, indicating wordlessly that he was almost done.

That was more than two hours ago. Ezio had long since had his very late breakfast in the sunny kitchen. Then he'd tried to read a random book taken from the heavily laden shelves of the workshop, but the treatise on Arabian alchemy didn't exactly hold his fascination and his thoughts kept skipping back to the events of the previous night. At last he gave up, slammed the book shut and walked back into the work room.

Leaning silently on the doorframe, Ezio studied Leonardo. It never really ceased to impress him; the passion of the work process. Scribbling notes, shading the details of some bizarre technical drawing; strange little pauses where Leonardo's hands would trace complex lines in the air as though he could physically touch and examine the invention he worked on.

The hat and doublet Leonardo had worn earlier were thrown in an unruly heap on the table next to him, and his hair shone golden in the sunlight streaming from the window. The concentration on his clean shaven face was intense. Completely absorbed in his work there was a sort of childishness to him; a little boy lost in his own imagination. Sometimes Ezio found it strange that a man who disliked killing so intensely could be so gleefully happy designing terrible weapons.

"Leonardo?" he called loudly.

No answer. Ezio smiled and shook his head incredulously. He had long since stopped believing that he was being ignored rather than simply not heard, although the first couple of times this had happened, he had been quite annoyed. He put the alchemy-book down on a crate standing by the door. "Leonardo." he whispered softly, and laughed when his friend almost jumped in his seat as though awakened by a splash of cold water.

"So, that's the trick..." Ezio grinned.

"What's the trick to what?" Leonardo asked innocently.

"Never mind." Ezio smiled.

Leonardo stretched his arms above his head and turned on the bench, putting his feet up: "You slept well? Have you eaten?"

"Yes and yes. I called you to ask if you wanted any food, but that's long ago now."

"Oh. Sorry. I was..." Leonardo gestured vaguely at the drawings, his attention travelling back to the papers he'd been working on, before he forcefully pushed the sketches away, giving Ezio a little grin: "It can wait. You are restless. ...And shirtless. No complaints, though." he added smugly.

Ezio slowly made his way to the bench and took a seat, facing Leonardo. "Thanks." he said: "For letting me stay here."

Leonardo's only answer was a dismissive shrug.

They sat in silence for a while.

"What happened?" Leonardo finally broke the silence when it became obvious that Ezio wasn't going to volunteer.

"When?" Ezio asked.

"I don't know. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Ezio began, but then he felt his shoulders drop in grateful defeat: "No... Actually, something is bothering me. Am I really that transparent?" he asked sincerely.

"You are quiet. It gives you away." Leonardo shrugged.

"I'm often quiet."

"Yes, but your silence is usually quite noisy."

Ezio gave a short laugh despite himself.

"I heard you had gone home to Monteriggioni for a while?" Leonardo asked; his long fingers absentmindedly twirling the silver stylus he had been writing with.

"What? Who told you?"

"Antonio. But never mind that. It was hardly a great secret?" Leonardo said. "...And I didn't ask where you were. We just happened to talk about you."

Ezio shrugged defensively. It felt disarming and vulnerable being asked what was wrong and somehow even worse to learn that apparently he was a topic of conversation.

"Is it about Monteriggioni? Or would you rather I shut up and stop prying?" Leonardo asked.

"Monteriggioni. Let's see..." Ezio sighed. "My mother is an empty shell. My sister makes this face-" he made a mock annoyed pout which made Leonardo give a laugh. "-whenever she is unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of me. And my uncle and I disagree about almost everything at the moment. He seems to think that it's somehow my fault that my father didn't tell me anything. And no matter what I do, it's never quite right. Not informed enough. Not decisive enough." He shook his head. "As though he expects me to be able to solve all the problems in the world if I just worked a little harder, fought a little more, slept a little less."

Leonardo said nothing when their eyes met, but held him with a blue gaze that was hard to break away from.

"But, no..." Ezio continued, leaning against the table. It was meant to seem casual, but he knew he was too tense for Leonardo to believe it. "That's actually not it."

"What is?" Leonardo asked.

"I killed a woman last night." Ezio sighed and shook his head to dispel the memory of it, looking away.

Leonardo said nothing.

"A nun." Ezio continued.

Leonardo just gave a small nod.

"In the chapel of the Santa Giustina Convent. ...At the foot of the altar." Ezio sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling suddenly tired again and unwilling to meet Leonardo's gaze. "It's not even like I didn't have a choice. I had been waiting there. For her. And she came in, completely unprotected. I stood right behind her, so close I could feel the warmth from her body. And I decided that she shouldn't suffer. She died without making a sound. She never knew her hour had come."

"I... know how this sounds." Ezio continued as if to counter a comment from Leonardo, who still sat quiet, just looking at him. The disgust Ezio had half expected to find in his face was mercifully absent. "And I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear this. I kill people. Like my father did. He..." Ezio's voice trailed off as he searched for the words: "Sometimes it feels like he is there with me. I mean-" he shook his head dismissively: "Not that I think he's a spirit following me, but he must have had the same feelings, impatience, need, excitement. Waiting in the shadows for someone. To end them. Sometimes I can't believe that this is really how I live."

Ezio sat quietly, his mind in a jumble, feeling as if he was waiting for a sort of judgment.

"Santa Giustina? You are talking about the Abbess Emiliana Soderini?" Leonardo asked, frowning in thought.

"Yes."

"I painted her portrait. Before she became abbess. When she was just the daughter of a wealthy merchant. It was around the time when we moved here. She is considered a holy woman now, isn't she?" Leonardo finally said. Then he continued evenly: "Why did you kill her?"

"Templar. I killed her father a few years ago. Apparently she inherited more than money. She got the position in the convent and it was a clever move. I'm guessing they simply placed her there by means of money. It was said at the time that she had visions, a sort of epiphany. But the prison in the cellar told a different tale. Leonardo..."

"Prison?" Leonardo frowned: "Tell me what happened."

"We have known for some time that the Templars had a place somewhere for extracting information and making people disappear. Don't worry," Ezio said when he caught a hesitant look in Leonardo's eyes: "I won't tell you any more than I have to. Anyway, we found out it was in the convent, so I went there. Just yesterday morning. I spent some time inside, with some pilgrims who were there to pray at the relic of Santa Giustina. I left with them and went back after dark. Under the abbey complex was the prison alright." He paused, searching for the words to describe what he had seen. "I eluded the guards there, stayed unseen, but... there were so many people there. Some of them only skin on bones. Breathing corpses. The Templars were killing most of them, so slowly, just giving them enough to barely keep body and soul together." He grimaced, disgusted by the memory.

"What happened then." Leonardo asked.

"I managed to talk to a girl there. Recently imprisoned. She had been a novice in the convent and had by chance seen the abbess take a book from the altar of the chapel. Then she was knocked out and taken to the prison in the dead of night. She didn't even know she was still in the convent. She had been told that her family had been notified she'd run away with a lover."

"I left the prison and found the abbess. She even produced the book from the altar, from under the relic of the saint. I'm guessing it's a record of what went on there. Reports for her superiors. I haven't read it. And I probably won't. I'll let others do that and glean what they might." He gestured vaguely at the bag he had left by the chair that morning. "Well, I killed her. I set fire to the chapel as a distraction and then I went back to the prison, killed the few guards remaining there and let the prisoners out. It took a long time. I had to make the stronger carry the weaker and some were simply so close to death that they could not be moved. Two died, in the dark, on the way to a nearby village."

"That's horrible. How could the nuns not know?" Leonardo asked softly.

"The complex is huge and the prison entrance was away from the main part of the convent. I'm assuming that anyone who happened on it would simply vanish and some excuse be given. I don't know. Maybe some knew, though. That's why I didn't dare give the prisoners over to the nuns' care."

"What happened to those people?"

"I paid for some to have transport into the city this morning. Some were strong enough to leave on their own. Some volunteered to help others to safety. I told them to go to Antonio and the guild and ask for sanctuary; those that needed it. …I guess that's another reason I didn't want to be there." Ezio concluded tiredly. "I'm really sorry you'll have to feign surprise at this. The news is probably filtering into the city by now." Ezio leaned his back against the table, his elbows resting on the tabletop, and stretching his legs he slowly turned his head to meet his friend's gaze. The stylus between Leonardo's fingers had stopped twirling back and forth and he wore a worried, thoughtful frown.

"I'll manage." Leonardo finally said. "But..." He rolled the stylus away on the tabletop and moved closer, so that they were sitting shoulder by shoulder. "Do you have any doubt that taking the life of the abbess has saved innocent lives?"

"Not in the least." Ezio stated. "It'll take them a long time to recover from this; build a new power base somewhere else. A lot of suffering is prevented in the meantime."

"Then what is your worry?"

Ezio smiled a little: "I suppose... Maybe that everyone else I could tell would simply take it for granted that this misery existed. Or maybe just the location. I'm not sure."

"Location? You mean a chapel?"

Ezio just nodded.

"I can't pretend to know anything about God. I've only ever heard of him from other people; though it's not that I don't have faith..." Leonardo said slowly, as if sorting out his thoughts as he spoke them: "But if I were to believe what is preached, then most of what I consider important about myself is an abomination to God. So..."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that none of us can know for certain what God's will is? If preventing suffering by violence is somehow permitted."

"No; what did you mean about you being an abomination?" Ezio asked.

"Well, there's the fact that I'm the cause of death in that I create weapons. Then there is the way I love. The nature of my lust." Leonardo said, and couldn't keep a grin off his face as he leaned closer and softly brushed his lips over Ezio's naked shoulder.

"Leonardo; we are having sex." Ezio stated with a touch of amazement in his voice.

"Mhm!" Leonardo agreed, nodding. They both grinned, dispelling the last of the gloom hanging between them from Ezio's narrative.

"I mean..." Ezio explained, smiling: "It's another thing in my life I sometimes can't really believe."

Leonardo nodded: "I can imagine. I've seen how you look at women."

"How do I look at women?"

"No, I meant how you look at _women_ and not men. Actually, that's quite gratifying. That I'm the only man?" Leonardo mused.

"Well, now that you mention it, I guess it _is_ rather flattering." Ezio grinned.

Leonardo gave a scoffing laugh and punched Ezio's shoulder.

"…But while we are on the subject of women." Ezio asked, curious: "You do know that there are a lot of them who find you very interesting, don't you?"

Leonardo sighed and bit his lip: "Yes. And isn't that awkward! I've practically had to flee from the youngest Morosini sister on several occasions. I'm avoiding church sometimes, she usually corners me there." he said, a sort of panicked look in his eyes.

"But..." Ezio shook his head in disbelief: "The Morosini family is one of the richest in the city. Why not just... go for it?"

Leonardo gave him a scorching sideways glance.

"Or not..." Ezio finished, eyebrows raised.

"I used to have this absurd belief that I would one day have children, a family. But wives are, as far as I can gather, expensive creatures. And to think that I would have to have it around, prying into all my things, every day of my life..." Leonardo's voice trailed off and he gave a small shiver and shook his head: "No. Definitely! No."

"You have assistants. They are around a lot of the time." Ezio reasoned.

"Yes, but they don't have a free roam of my bedroom, my bookshelves, my private work, my notes. And they take orders and go away when I tell them to."

Ezio held up his hands defensively, laughing: "Fine. I was just curious."

"So..." Leonardo said after a pause, turning on the bench and slowly stretching out his hand to caress Ezio's chest and stomach with the tips of his fingers: "About that sex we are having?"

Ezio closed his eyes for a moment under the touch and drew a deep breath, smiling. Then he hooked a finger under Leonardo's belt and pulled him closer until Leonardo was straddling him on the bench, their bodies pressed close together. A kiss that started out gentle, quickly became more urgent and left them both winded. Ezio pulled Leonardo's shirt off and the thrill of his warm skin drew a wide grin on his face: "What about the sex we are having?" he asked and kissed Leonardo's neck softly while his fingers travelled down his spine.

"There are a lot of very important decisions to be made." Leonardo sighed happily.

"Yes?"

"Such as... here, upstairs, find a nice, accommodating wall? Rough or gentle? Me on top; you on top?" Leonardo said with a grin. They held each other's gaze for a moment.

"Let's try something we almost never do..."

"Mm?" Leonardo asked through a series of soft kisses.

"The bed." Ezio said.

"Intriguing initiative... I knew there was a reason I liked you." Leonardo grinned and got to his feet. He took a few steps towards the door before Ezio caught his arm: "I already locked the doors." he said.

"Oh... You planned this?"

"I planned _for_ it." Ezio shrugged, and let Leonardo, laughing, drag him upstairs.

8


End file.
